After weeks of fan voting and input from both players and media, the NBA finally produced on Thursday its list of All-Star starters for next month's game in Charlotte. There were few surprises but some minor drama - Kemba Walker took the final guard spot in the East, and LeBron James earned a spot ahead of Anthony Davis despite James' ongoing groin injury.

Now we get down to the business of picking the reserves, a task that will be left to the NBA's coaches. Both conferences offer challenges in making those picks - the East because there are not enough surefire stars, and the West because there are far too many.

The full results will be announced next week, but here's how our vote (three forwards, two guards and two wild cards) would shape up:

East All-Star starters

G: Kyrie Irving, Celtics

G: Kemba Walker, Hornets

F: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bucks

F: Kawhi Leonard, Raptors

F: Joel Embiid, Sixers

East All-Star reserves

F: Blake Griffin, Pistons

Griffin has done typical Griffin things this season, but he's just doing a bit more of those things - he's averaging a career-high 26.3 points, shooting 36.6 percent on 3-pointers on a career-high 6.6 attempts and contributing as a rebounder (8.1) and a passer (5.3 assists, a team high).

The Pistons seem to be a hopeless lot, but in the East, that still puts you into postseason contention. It also puts Griffin back into the All-Star game as a sure bet.

F: Nikola Vucevic, Magic

It's always nice to come up with a career year just as free agency looms, and the player Orlando never seemed to want much is complicating the decision-making heading into the trade deadline and offseason.

Vucevic is averaging 20.5 points, 12.0 rebounds and 3.8 assists, making 1.2 3-pointers per game and shooting 38.1 percent from the arc as part of his 57.6 true-shooting percentage. Those are all career highs. Whether that will yield him a massive offseason payday will have to wait. In the meantime, he's a clear East All-Star.

F: Pascal Siakam, Raptors

Having Leonard in the starting five is no surprise. But the Raptors are deserving of a second All-Star, and though Kyle Lowry is the likely choice, he has struggled to stay healthy and has just not produced All-Star numbers - 14.2 points on 41.6 percent shooting just can't be covered up by his team-quarterback role and 9.4 assists.

The nod here goes to Siakam, whose emergence as a consistent scorer and rebounder (plus his developing defensive presence) has made him the Raptor who's had the second-best first half. That's not to say he's the team's second-best player because that's Lowry. But he's been second-best to this point.

G: Ben Simmons, Sixers

Simmons gets the nod over Lowry and other East guards (there aren't many) because, no matter how little you think of his jump shot, he has the ability to control the game for the Sixers and has continued to develop as both a playmaker and game manager.

He takes the shots he can make (57.8 percent from the field), scoring 16.6 per game with 9.5 rebounds and 8.3 assists.

G: Bradley Beal, Wizards

This spot would have gone to Victor Oladipo, and it would be the right thing for the coaches to vote Oladipo in and allow commissioner Adam Silver to name a replacement. With Oladipo out for the year, however, Beal should be a lock (and probably already was).

Washington is seven games under .500, but Beal (24.7 points, 5.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists) has been keeping the team afloat in the sad-sack race for the East playoffs.

WC: Khris Middleton, Bucks

Milwaukee should have a second All-Star, just as Toronto should. The only question is whether that guy is Middleton or point guard Eric Bledsoe. Neither has had the kind of first half that screams "All-Star!" but each has been critical to the Bucks' ascension in the East. Bledsoe has been more consistent, but he has struggled as a perimeter shooter. Middleton had a very good start, but he has been wildly inconsistent since.

On balance, Middleton comes out as the Bucks' No. 2 option, with 17.3 points per game while averaging 4.1 assists and playing very good defense. Milwaukee fans have come to dread the extended 4-for-16 3-point slumps (like the one he's in over his last four games), but Middleton's 3-point percentage remains solid at 37.5 percent.

WC: D'Angelo Russell, Nets

The expectation will be that the coaches vote in Jimmy Butler as a reserve, but there are a few problems with that. First, the Sixers with three All-Stars? Seems excessive for a good-not-great East bunch. Second, Butler spent the first 13 games of the season in Minnesota (yes, the Western Conference) tormenting his former franchise and its coaches. Perhaps the coaches should lodge a protest vote.

Third, Russell deserves a spot, and the surging Nets deserve an All-Star. They're 18-5 since their 8-18 start, and Russell has been the driving force, with career highs in points (19.3), assist percentage (38.1) and true shooting percentage (53.4). He could prove to be the last guy off the roster, but it'd be an injustice.

West All-Star starters

G: Stephen Curry, Warriors

G: James Harden, Rockets

F: LeBron James, Lakers

F: Paul George, Thunder

F: Kevin Durant, Warriors

West All-Star reserves

F: Anthony Davis, Pelicans

Davis should have been a starter considering the kind of numbers he's putting up (29.3 points, 13.3 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 50.8 percent shooting and his usual defensive presence). Throw in James' extensive list of missed games, and Davis should have bumped him from the first five.

F: Nikola Jokic, Nuggets

It says something about the forwards in the West when Jokic comes in No. 5 in both the player and media voting, while averaging 19.8 points, 10.3 rebounds and 7.7 assists and shooting 50.4 percent for the No. 2 seed in the conference. But after Davis, Jokic is the biggest lock to earn a reserve spot, which would be his first All-Star appearance.

F: Rudy Gobert, Jazz

Utah got off to a rough start for a few reasons - stagnation after last year's terrific finish, a handful of free agents getting good summer payouts, a brutal early schedule and some adjustments from second-year star Donovan Mitchell. But Gobert was not one of the reasons.

He is having the best season of his six-year career, and his 14.9 points, 13.0 rebounds and 2.2 assists are all career highs as he has chipped in more offensively. He is still the most imposing defensive presence in the league, and as the Jazz have gotten things turned around, there should be no doubt that Gobert deserves a reserve spot.

G: Damian Lillard, Trail Blazers

Lillard's numbers have mostly been a repeat of what he posted last season, except that he is attacking the basket slightly more and down a bit in 3-point attempts. Portland is on pace to finish with just about the same number of wins (49) as last year, and currently holds the No. 4 spot in the West.

Everything is on track, then, for Lillard to again punch his All-Star card.

G: Russell Westbrook, Thunder

We've all swallowed hard on some very, very inefficient production from Westbrook in the past and still awarded him All-Star spots, All-NBA honors and even an MVP. But this would be especially tough - with his free-throw woes, Westbrook is carrying a true-shooting percentage of 48.0, worst of his career and wretched for anyone in the modern NBA.

Still, he is the fulcrum of the Thunder offensively, leads the NBA in assists and is sixth in the conference in rebounding. If Oklahoma City was hovering around .500 and out of the postseason mix, Westbrook would be out. But the Thunder are No. 3 in the West, and that's a factor.

WC: Karl-Anthony Towns, Timberwolves

The tumult in Minnesota took its toll on everyone on the roster, but Towns was near the top of that list.

He had a slow start, but he has been a force going back to late December - he's averaged 25.6 points and 13.9 rebounds in his last 15 games - and has the Wolves trending in a good direction since then. They're 9-6 in those games and now only a game below .500.

WC: LaMarcus Aldridge, Spurs

Jrue Holiday, Jamal Murray, Klay Thompson, Donovan Mitchell, Tobias Harris, Danilo Gallinari, Luka Doncic - heck, even DeMar DeRozan, Aldridge's own teammate. There is a long list of players who will feel the snub when the final reserves are announced.

But Aldridge has been the most consistent of these players (with the possible exception of Holiday) on both sides of the ball all season. He is averaging 20.6 points and 8.6 rebounds (with 51.0 percent shooting), and as good as DeRozan has been, Aldridge has been the best player on a team that has been rocked by injuries but still maintains good postseason position.

Holiday is a near-miss for this spot, and if he is not an All-Star, it'll be because he has been punished for being part of a roster that could not stay healthy and lacked depth. Aldridge carries a bigger load for the Spurs, so he gets the nod.